Lost and Found
by MattUF1
Summary: A series of stories on Rapunzel's life from before and after escaping her tower and finding her real family.


**AN/**Quick note on this story. It's going to have it's ups and downs. It might jump around a bit, but it's all in the same story. Basically this is just my outlet for having more Rapunzel in my world beyond Tangled because I love that girl so much.

I hope I do her justice.

* * *

Rapunzel couldn't sleep. Not that she wasn't tired, she was exhausted. The last few days had been more movement and adventure than she'd had in a lifetime, but so much had changed.

Just hours ago she faced the prospect of being locked away under her tower, away from her window, her world because Moth…because Gothel wanted to keep her for only herself.

No, not even her. Gothel didn't care about her at all. Just her hair.

It was a painful reality to face. Rapunzel never questioned that her mother loved her before. The way she was raised, the isolation she went through, yeah, she questioned that every day. But she never doubted that her mother cared about her. Protected her for a reason.

Now, she was fighting with the reality that the first eighteen years of her life were based on a lie. It was hard to wrap her head around.

She wanted to sleep, to put it all away till morning. But she couldn't. This place was so different. It was quiet, the waterfall that ran behind her tower was gone now. She could hear everything. People walking through the hallways of this giant castle. It was so large, so many rooms that she felt a bit overwhelmed. She was used to small spaces. Her spaces. Now, there was nothing around her that was familiar.

This bed wasn't her own, even if this room was meant to be at one point.

Swallowing, she rolled to her side and faced the door. There was a light peeking out from underneath it. It had to be well into the night and yet there were still people moving about. She wondered if the castle was ever quiet

A part of her wanted to get up and run to her parents. To make sure this was all still real. That they were really here with her. They'd been so sweet and kind to her. She worried they wouldn't like her as she stood on that balcony waiting for them.

She didn't have her hair anymore, outside of that no one had ever really wanted her for anything. Well…except Eugene. She missed him. She wanted him to be here with her but no one else seemed to even consider that. She thought about asking but didn't want to say something wrong.

The entire evening had been spent mostly in silence. No one really knowing what to say. Her…mother (which still felt odd to say) never let go of her hand. It was nice. The way she looked at her made Rapunzel feel special. Something she wasn't very used to.

Her father was distant, but not without care in his eyes. He acted almost like he was hesitant…cautious around her. After their initial hug, he kept his distance, but smiled every time their eyes met.

A swift chill of wind blew through the room and made Rapunzel shiver a bit. Instincitvely, she reached for a mass of hair to cover herself with but then remembered it was no longer there.

That would be an adjustment. She used her hair for so many things. To climb, to keep warm, to use as a rope to pull things. It was so natural to her but nobody else she'd seen had hair even remotely close.

Being around so many people made Rapunzel realize how different she was. Everyone was so loud and chatty with one another, she could barely muster up the courage to ask the staff who brought them food earlier for more water.

Everything was so different now, suddenly so. And she was happy, beyond happy to be free, to be home.

But at the same time, she was overwhelmed by all the changes.

A sudden need to see Eugene struck her. He was familiar, he understood all this. Maybe he could help her sleep.

Quietly, Rapunzel rose out of her bed, bare feet hitting the chilly wood floor below as her nightgown fell around her ankles. She slinked to the door and cracked it open just slightly. Peeking outside, the hallway was empty, but still bright with candlelight as she opened the door enough to exit and being her journey.

However, as soon as she was in the hallway, she had absolutely no idea where she was going.

The ceiling of this place alone felt taller than her tower. The walls had magnificent paintings scattered all around. Ones she'd love to try and mimic in her own art. The symbol of the sun was on every door. And there were so many doors.

As she continued down the hallway she could hear distant voices chatting around a corner. Stopping, Rapunzel leaned against a wall and listened.

"It's a miracle is what it is." A man said, his voice husky and deep.

Another man scoffed. "S'not a miracle." His voice was much squeakier.

"It is!" Husky returned, his voice defensive. "A girl like that gets kidnapped, nine times out of ten she's either gonna be sold or murdered. Eighteen years later she makes it back home. If it ain't a miracle I don't know what you'd call it."

Rapunzel gasped, they were talking about her.

"It's damn lucky is what it is." Squeak chimed in. "A little _too _lucky if you ask me." His voice was thick with accusation.

"You better watch your mouth boy. The king will have your head for talk like that."

A part of Rapunzel wanted to get away from this conversation. They were talking about her and something told her she wouldn't like where it was going. But she was stuck, listening.

"C'mon, you can't tell me you haven't thought of it. How convenient it would be for some orphan girl to pretend to be the lost princess just get themselves a spot in this castle."

Husky jeered. "The king and queen know their own kin, Braxton. We've had girls try it before and not once have they made it this far. That's the princess. She looks just like the queen!"

"I s'pose. Not like it matters anyways. At least now we got another pretty one to look at." Squeak teased, his tone crude.

"That's enough of that, return to your post." Husky demanded and soon enough the sounds of Squeak or…Braxton, retreating filled the room.

Rapunzel remained pressed against the wall she was hiding behind. Her mind moving a thousand miles an hour. Other people had pretended to be her? Some even questioned that she truly belonged here?

Why would she lie to anyone about this? Her parents loved her, missed her. Why would anyone try and take advantage of that for their own gain?

Looking around the castle, she realized she had no idea where to even begin looking for Eugene. They'd taken him to his own room for the night but she had no idea why.

He was a wanted criminal. But after all he'd done for her, her parents agreed to let him stay.

Still, she didn't know where he was and it was late and she probably wasn't supposed to be out like this.

Just as she started to retreat to her room, she was stopped.

"My lady?" A voice called behind her. It was Husky, his voice was even deeper now.

Turning around, she shyly glanced up at him and put her hands up. "I'm sorry…I was just…I'm going back to my room."

"Are you…looking for something, my lady?"

She couldn't understand why he kept calling her that. "Oh uh…I uh…was looking for Eugene Fitzherbert."

The flash of a scowl painted across Husky's face. He removed it just as quick. "His room is on the north end of the castle. Near the dining area."

"Oh," her face fell with disappointment. "Okay, I'm sorry then. I'll just—"

"I could take you." He said, drawing her gaze and drawing out her smile. "My lady."

She chuckled. "You can just call me Rapunzel."

Husky smiled and gestured for her to follow him. "With all due respect, ma'am. No, I cannot."

Rapunzel frowned. "Why not?"

"It would not be the proper way to greet the Princess of Corona."

Princess. That would take a lot of getting used to. All her life Rapunzel had only ever been…a girl. She meant nothing to no one except Gothel. Now…she was a princess.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Glancing back at her, Husky grinned widely, settling Rapunzel's anxiety a bit. "John, my name is John."

"It's nice to meet you…John."

He nodded. "And you, My Lady."

Yeah, this was going to take some getting used to.

"Here we are, my lady." He said, gesturing to a door at the end of a narrow hallway just past the massive dining area.

Every room they passed seemed bigger and longer than the one before. There were _so _many windows, from every angle. Not one inch of the kingdom couldn't be seen from this castle.

"That was a long walk." She said, wiping at her forehead exaggeratedly.

John nodded. "It's a large castle."

Rapunzel looked up to the towering ceiling. "Tell me about it." She then turned to the door. "So I can just…go in?"

"If you like, My Lady. I'll wait out here for you."

"Oh…you don't have to do that, I'm sure you have other things to do."

He shook his head. "No, this is my duty, I'll wait and lead you back to your room when you're ready."

She bit her lip and nodded. Though she really had no idea what she was planning to do. She just wanted to see Eugene, to find some comfort in a very uncomfortable night. But now she was here and felt silly because she didn't have any real reason for bursting into his room at this hour.

As John moved to the side a bit and took his stance at the door, Rapunzel knew she had to do something. So she reached for the door handle and twisted it open before quietly stepping inside.

It was darker on this end of the castle. Less bustle and noise. Still, the moonlight shimmered in through a high hanging window and cast just beyond the bed onto the wood floor.

She could see Eugene, sleeping atop the mound of covers, with pillows cast to the floor unused. His face was buried in the mattress. He was snoring softly, clearly he was as exhausted as she was.

Hesitantly, she sauntered over to his bed and got a better view of his face. Well, what she could see of his face. His hair was hanging over his eyes, she noticed a hint of facial hair growing up his cheeks and smiled.

It was strange to her, how lucky she was that he climbed her tower that day. How much it changed everything, how important it was.

How hard he fought for her to be free. And now he was here, right here with her and it felt like maybe they could be this way forever.

The idea made her stomach flip as she reached out and pushed his hair away.

Slowly, one of his eyes opened to look right at her. She smiled as he looked at her when suddenly she felt that familiar feeling of Pascal crawling up her back and suddenly on her shoulder. She'd forgotten he was in the room with her, poor guy had probably followed her across the castle and she didn't even know!

"If he puts his tongue in my ear I'm gonna throw him out the window."

At that Pascal started moving even faster as if to test this threat, but Rapunzel grabbed him by the tail and pulled him away. "Settle down, Pascal, he's just tired and cranky." The chameleon sighed and glared at Eugene one last time before settling down as Rapunzel put him on her shoulder. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to wake you."

Blinking, Eugene rolled onto his back and rubbed at his eyes. "Why are you up? You have to be just as tired as I am."

"I am," she admitted with a sigh. "But…I couldn't sleep. I can't shut my mind off."

Taking a slow breath, Eugene pushed up on his elbows and nodded. "Alright, what's no your mind, Blondie?"

She smiled. "You can't call me that anymore." She said, gesturing to her short, brunette hair.

"You'll always be Blondie to me." Rapunzel felt a flush wash over her face at his words. "So come on, tell me why you can't sleep."

Inhaling slowly, Rapunzel closed her eyes. "I'm not sure I belong here."

This got his attention as he sat up fully and tilted his head at her. "You're the lost princess, of course you belong here."

"What do I know about being a princess? I grew up in a tower. I swept my own floors, I made my own bed, I boiled my own chamber pot." Eugene winced a bit at that. "Sorry. The point is, I don't know how to be royalty. I'll never be able to let people do things for me when I can easily do them myself."

With every word she spoke, Eugene's smile grew more and more. When she finished and saw him flashing a huge grin at her, she glowered at him.

"What is so funny? I thought you wanted to help me!"

He chuckled. "I do, but come on, you're upset because you don't want the luxuries of being a princess. You are so weird!"

"That's my point! You are no help at all Eugene Fitzherbert!"

As Rapunzel turned around to leave, John peering in through the door just a bit as her voice raised, she felt Eugene grab her arm and stop her.

"You're missing _my _point." He said, now standing above her. Rapunzel glanced up at him, tears brimming in her eyes as he shook his head "I'm telling you that there is nothing wrong with not fitting in. I've done that my entire life."

"But…" Rapunzel had a flash of doubt at herself, at her problems. Maybe no one, not even Eugene, could understand what she was going through. "What if I'm not what they expected?"

"Rapunzel," he put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Your parents have been searching for you for eighteen years. The stories I've heard about the lengths they've gone through to find you. You're everything they wanted. Hell—"

"Eugene," she chided his language.

His eyes rolled. "Sorry, what I was going to say is that you're _more _than they could have expected and they don't even know it yet. They haven't gotten to figure out all the things that make you special." With that, he reached up and pushed a small strand of hair out of her face. Trailing his hand down a bit to lightly try and bump Pascal off her shoulder. "I haven't even gotten to figure it all out yet."

Blushing profusely now, Rapunzel reached up and tugged on the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss.

Just as it started to deepen and Rapunzel found her legs going weak and her stomach doing jumping jacks, a throat cleared behind them.

Eugene pulled away in a hurry and glanced over her should where John was leering.

"My lady, perhaps we should return to your quarters. It's been a long day and certainly a longer one tomorrow."

With a nod, Rapunzel looked back to Eugene who was glaring at John over her head. She smiled at him. "He's probably right."

"Yeah, you come to me cause _you _can't sleep and now I'm gonna be the one up all night."

Rapunzel quirked a brow at him. "What?"

"Nevermind. Goodnight, Blondie. Don't forget your chameleon. Please." Pascal climbed atop Rapunzel's head to glare at Eugene as they made their exit.


End file.
